SINGAPORE?apl.de.ap, the Fil-Am member of the internationally famous hip hop group Black Eyed Peas, has always been proud of his Pinoy roots.

In BEP albums, the 34-year-old apl (Allan Pineda Lindo) contributes songs that reflect the culture he grew up with as a child in Sapang Bato, Angeles, Pampanga.

?Elephunk,? BEP?s third release (2003) and first commercially successful album, contained ?The Apl Song??whose recollection of living in hard times starts off with the first stanza of Asin?s ?Balita.?

Two years later, ?Monkey Business? yielded the upbeat ?Bebot,? Apl?s first attempt to write and rap with all-Tagalog lyrics.

The group?s current album, ?The E.N.D.,? which is riding high on two chart-topping singles (?Boom Boom Pow,? ?I Gotta Feeling?), has a deluxe edition containing another apl tune, ?Mare.?

Recently, apl hooked up with Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano to discuss how music could help enhance DOT?s promotional campaigns.

The result is ?Take Me to the Philippines,? a music video that apl wrote, recorded and produced?and which the DOT is launching on MTV.

Members of the media, including the Inquirer, is getting a sneak preview of the video this morning at the Ascott Raffles Place. Apl is in Singapore with BEP for the ?F1 Rocks? music festival which also features ZZ Top, No Doubt and Simple Minds, among others. (A full story on the video, including an interview with apl and Durano, will follow.)

Apl has also set up Jeepney Music, his own talent management outfit which currently handles DJs in the US, but is also on the lookout for local acts.